US$50M bypass road project: “We are in final stages of selecting contractor” – President Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali has said that the process of selecting a contractor to build the four-lane bypass road project that will link the East Coast of Demerara at Ogle to East Bank Demerara at Haags Bosch in Eccles is in the final stages.
He made this revelation during his remarks at the opening of the Amazonia Mall at Providence, EBD, last week.
“We are in the final stages, with the help of the Indian Government to contract a firm to commence work on a highway from Ogle to Eccles in the initial phase,” the Head of State said.

Four Indian companies were prequalified in May to construct a four-lane bypass road.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill told Guyana Times in June that these companies will submit their financial bids for the road project in August.
It was previously reported that after the tender was issued and the companies have submitted their bids, Guyana would have 21 days to evaluate the proposals and award the contract for the tune of $10.4 billion.
Back in 2015, the Indian Government had provided a US$50 million Line of Credit (LOC) for the road link that was initially slated for Ogle to Diamond, EBD. However, the project cost was driven up to over $208 million by the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) regime and the project was at a standstill since 2019.
But when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government took office last year, it redesigned the project into two phases to fit the LOC – the first from Ogle to Haags Bosch road, which is about 50 per cent of the project, and the second, from Haags Bosch to Diamond – in order to fit the US$50 million LOC. Another aspect of the project will see the road going all the way to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Timehri.
According to President Ali on Friday, Government is currently working on financing the Eccles to Timehri phase of the road.
“The Minister of Finance [Dr Ashni Singh] has already commenced negotiations to get financing to move from Eccles to Diamond and from Diamond to Timehri,” the President said last week.
Meanwhile, in a previous interview with Guyana Times, Indian High Commissioner, Dr KJ Srinivasa had explained that while an Indian company was required to do the construction as per the LOC terms and conditions, Guyanese could also expect to benefit from the project.
“As per the line of credit norms for India, whenever we give lines of credit, we insist on a 75 per cent Indian content. But for Guyana, we’ve made a special exemption, which will be 47 per cent content only from India. So, the remaining 53 per cent will be locally sourced in Guyana. I think this will fall perfectly in your local content policy and we also would appreciate that the local people can get jobs and local producers can be able to sell their… raw materials that are required for making the road,” Dr Srinivasa had related to this newspaper.
The entire bypass road project will create a new highway in the backlands, thus allowing for an alternative route to the country’s two main thoroughfares. This project will see a total of 26 kilometres of road constructed with links to connect key communities in Georgetown and along the East Bank of Demerara.
These include Diamond, Mocha and Eccles – all on the East Bank – and Aubrey Barker Road in Georgetown. These connections will prove crucial in diverting traffic.
Meanwhile, Government has undertaken several new road projects along the EBD corridor to ease the heavy traffic congestion normally encountered there. These include an alternative road connecting Diamond and Eccles.
The new road that runs from Sixth Avenue, Diamond, to the Windsor Estate Road that leads on to the Eccles Landfill Site Road is already completed but Government is awaiting the completion of a bridge along the Mocha Access Road that will lead the new road from Diamond straight into Eccles.
The other project will see an alternative road from Eccles to Mandela Avenue. Construction of the $2.3 million project is currently ongoing. Last week, Housing Minister Collin Croal told this newspaper that the road is 30 per cent completed and is on track for its November month-end completion.
According to President Ali, “This is the vision, this is the type of infrastructure that will not only open up new lands but will open up new opportunities for people in this country. Hundreds of acres of commercial and industrial lands would be opened [up from these road projects].” (G8)